With teams having now played each other once, round 8 marked the start of the first set of return games and allows us to get a sense of how the season is shaping up. With just nine points separating 1st from 6th before this round, every game is becoming more and more important as points dropped from here on in will be harder to recover.
By the end of the round, a four-point gap had opened up at the top of the table, with just five points between second and sixth.
Before the weekend games, there was a match in midweek between Hyundai NTC and MUM FC. For the NTC, this was a chance to make their game in hand count and move to the top of the table, whilst their opponents knew that a good win could see them move to second spot on the ladder.
NTC was missing Ischia Brooking and Ruby Cuthbert due to them attending a junior Matildas camp, whilst goalkeeper Lilly Bailey was out injured and Tanika Lala was in the UK trialling for clubs.
They were also backing up after a game on Sunday, so the odds were slightly against them, but this didn’t deter them from taking the lead through Klaudia Houlis in the 14th minute. This was her eighth goal of the season and moved her to equal top of the Golden Boot alongside Jamie Duncanson of Perth SC.
The home team were in command of the game until five minutes after the restart when Samantha Mathers scored from a corner to level the score. The visitors then went ahead in the 65th minute from captain Charli Wainwright.
The game then took a turn for the worse for the NTC in the 69th minute when their captain, Georgia Cassidy, received a red card for dissent and this seemed to deflate her teammates.
MUM FC scored a third just a minute after the dismissal through Jessica Johnson and killed off any hopes of a comeback by the home side with further goals in the 81st and 88th minutes by Mathers to complete her hattrick.
The win catapulted MUMFC into second spot on goal difference and set up a tasty encounter between themselves and Perth RedStar for the weekend.
Perth RedStar 1 – 0 MUM FC
The top-of-the-table clash was a chance for the home team to stretch their lead over their rivals, whilst MUM were looking to return to the summit for the first time in the NPLW era since clinching their second title in 2021.
The opening quarter of an hour was mostly played in midfield with RedStar shading possession, but in the 17th minute, Stacey Cavill was forced to dive bravely at Renee Leota’s feet to prevent the ex-New Zealand international from opening the scoring.
There was a scare for the home team on the half-hour when a Kathryn Schubert free kick was almost turned into her own goal by Jacinta Coleman as her headed clearance needed Shivani Battaglia’s intervention to keep it from going in.
MUM went close again in the 32nd minute when a Vanessa Miller cross drifted dangerously close to the goal forcing Battaglia to push the ball onto the bar to keep the score goalless.
In the second half the home team ramped up the pressure and pushed their opponents back towards their own goal. The midfield trio of Coleman, Reina Kagami and Katie Richie worked tirelessly to keep possession, whilst the front three of Jayna Ridley, Leota and second-half substitute Chiori Ikeda made sure the MUM FC defence didn’t have a moments respite.
In the 57th minute, Cavill was forced into a smart save from a Kagami corner, and it was from this avenue that the only goal of the game came in the 62nd minute. Kagami’s inswinging corner couldn’t be stopped by Cavill to give the midfielder her seventh goal of the campaign.
RedStar continued to press their opponents as they went looking for a second goal to kill the game, but resolute defending kept the score at 1-0 to allow RedStar to open a four-point gap over their opponents.
RedStar coach Carlos Vega-Mena spoke after the game about the importance of taking things week-by-week.
“We are continuing to focus one game at a time and playing as a team,” he said.
“The first half was pretty equal, but in the second half the girls came out fighting. They dominated and created opportunities.
“They showed their maturity and composure on the pitch to get the three points.”
MUMFC coach David Biancuzzo reflected on his team’s performance and their early confidence.
“We went into the game confident we could get a positive result,” he said.
“I thought the first half was tight with neither team producing many clear opportunities, but in the second half, RedStar were able to build pressure and break into key areas that we struggled to contain. We conceded the goal from a set piece and tried to get back into the game but in the end, were unsuccessful.
Perth SC 2 – 3 Fremantle City
In a highly entertaining game at Dorrien Gardens, Fremantle City overcame a Perth SC side struggling with injuries to pick up the three points and push themselves firmly into finals contention.
The home side was again without Gemma Craine and Ellie LaMonte, as well as Faye Phillips with all three out injured. Despite these absences, the Azzurri had the best of the opening exchanges but were reliant on goalkeeper Becky Bennett to keep the scores level when she saved a penalty in the 6th minute from Laura Waltman.
The home team continued to press and came mighty close in the 8th minute when only some excellent work by Dayle Schroeder in the Fremantle goal kept them at bay.
The goal that Perth’s persistence deserved came in the 19th minute when Godding hit a shot that came back off Nina Boorman. Godding immediately readjusted and sent a first-time volley looping in towards the Fremantle goal where it hit the post before nestling in the net.
Fremantle were finding it hard to break through and create any clear-cut chances, but in the 39th minute, they managed to free Abbey Green on the left. She produced a cross of the highest order to pick out Tash Rigby in the 6-yard box who had the easiest of headers into an open goal to make it 1-1.
Green was starting to have a major influence on the game, with her surging runs causing the Perth defence a lot of problems and the Perth Glory winger came agonisingly close to giving her side the lead in the 43rd minute only to be denied by an excellent save from Bennett in the Perth goal.
At half-time, Fremantle made a double substitution and brought on two ex-Perth Glory players in Jamie-Lee Gale and Katarina Jukic. The presence of five current or ex-Glory players on the pitch with all their experience and know-how proved too much for Perth SC.
Fremantle now pressed the home team relentlessly and a breakthrough arrived in the 61st minute. A misplaced pass by Liana Cook was intercepted by Green who fed Jukic at the top of the box. She cleverly beat Alyssa Van Heurck to create space for a shooting opportunity and made no mistake with her right foot shot to make the score 2-1.
The lead was extended to 3-1 in the 75th minute when Green fed a pass from just inside her own half into space behind the Perth defence. Gale timed her run to perfection to beat the offside trap and calmly slotted the ball into the net.
To their credit, Perth fought back with Van Heurck in particular displaying a real desire to get something from the game.
They grabbed their second goal of the game in the 81st minute when Van Heurck and Godding combined for the latter to feed a ball into the box. Abbey Meakins got to it ahead of Schroeder and the ex-Perth Glory player then displayed some great footwork to find some space before squaring the ball back into the penalty area for Judy Connolly to apply the finishing touch and make the score 2-3.
That was to be the end of the scoring though, and Perth SC coach Peter Rakic was a disappointed man after the game.
“It’s difficult to chase games and unfortunately it’s the position we’ve put ourselves in one too many times already this season,” he said.
“There’s no denying that it was a tough contest in all areas of the park, and I can’t argue with Fremantle’s desire to want it more as they capitalised in those exact transition moments where we needed to be more disciplined.
“While it’s tough to accept defeat again, we can’t lose hope of what we started earlier in the season.”
This was an important win for Fremantle after last week’s loss to RedStar and they are now equal on points with Perth SC but still in fifth spot on goal difference. They play MUM FC next, and a win there will leapfrog them over their opponents.
Perth SC has hit a bit of a wall having lost three of their last four games. They also have a lengthening injury list, with Jamie Duncanson coming off with what looked like an ankle injury in the first half.
Their next opponents are Subiaco and they will be desperate for a win to halt their recent slide.
Balcatta Etna 3 – 0 Hyundai NTC
With a morale-boosting win against Perth SC in the past round under their belt, the home team were looking to win their third game of the season against a side who had lost their last two games and were missing key players. On the plus side though they were able to welcome Ischia Brooking and Ruby Cuthbert back from a junior Matildas camp.
The task facing the away side became even harder just five minutes into the game when Monique Prinsloo’s cross found its way to Tia Stonehill in the penalty area. Her mishit shot ended up with an unmarked Epril Nossent at the back post and she gratefully turned the ball home.
The visitors nearly had an equaliser in the 27th minute when their leading scorer, Klaudia Houlis, forced a scrambled save from Gabby Dal Busco with the Balcatta Etna defence then able to clear the ball.
That was the closest NTC came to scoring in the first half, as the home side was content to sit deep and try to hit their opponents on the break, and this trend continued in the second half.
A decisive second goal for Balcatta Etna arrived in the 64th minute when a free kick from the left was not dealt with by the NTC defence and they left Prinsloo unmarked to head home from close range.
With a mountain to climb, NTC continued to have most of the possession but were unable to produce any meaningful pressure as Balcatta Etna’s well-organised defence kept them at arm’s length.
The points were clinched in the 80th minute when Sadie Lawrence picked out Stonehill at the far post who squared the ball across the six-yard box. Nossent reacted the quickest to score her second and wrap up the game 3-0.
Balcatta Etna’s coach Tim Cash spoke after the game of how impressed he was by his team’s performance.
“We showed the same characteristics as the Perth game,” he said.
“The team were well prepared, and we looked solid and countered the NTC possession and speed throughout.
“The front three were again on fire combining for Epril Nossent to score at the back post early in the game. Her two goals were well deserved and reflected her massive work rate.”
Although this was only the third win of the campaign for Balcatta Etna, it’s their second against a top-four side and will instil confidence in the team. With Curtin University up next, it’s highly likely they will gain another three points and continue to apply pressure to the teams above them.
The NTC has now lost three games in a row after going five undefeated, and in their next game, they travel to Albany to face table toppers Perth RedStar. A win in that game is a must if they are to avoid going further behind the leaders.
Subiaco 3 – 1 Curtin University
The final game of the round was between the teams occupying 7th and 8th spots on the table. Subiaco simply had to win if they were to entertain any hopes at all of playing finals football and they seemed to have made certain of the points within the first 35 minutes as they raced to a three-goal lead.
Frankie Murray scored two goals in the 18th and 25th minutes to bring her season’s tally to six. Remarkably, five of those goals have been scored against Curtin University.
A third goal was then added by Shelby Cochran to score her first of the season. It looked as though another heavy loss was on the cards for Curtin but to their credit they showed a lot more resilience than they have all season so far and held their hosts goalless in the second half before scoring in the 78th minute through debutant Pavitra Prem Kumar.
Subiaco coach Greg Farrell spoke after the game and highlighted areas of improvement moving forward.
“We moved the ball around well and created some good chances that we finished off in the first half, but we were trying to rush too much throughout the game” he said.
“We got to work on some new ideas during the game as well as give some players some much-needed minutes, so it was a positive overall despite conceding a late goal”
The win for Subiaco keeps them four points behind sixth-place Balcatta, and both teams have yet to play each other so there is still a small chance for Subiaco to challenge for a top-four spot but they have to start stringing wins together for this to happen.
For Curtin, this was the first time that hadn’t conceded seven or more in a game so they can look at this result with some positivity. They also had a number of new players who may yet make a difference, but the fact remains they are a long way from being able to compete in the league and look certainties to occupy the relegation spot at the end of the season. They next face Balcatta Etna on Friday evening.
Click here for the Round 8 goal highlights.
League Standings after NPLW WA Round 8
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points | ||
| 1 | Perth RedStar | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 5 | +15 | 19 |
| 2 | MUM FC | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 22 | 14 | +8 | 15 |
| 3 | Hyundai NTC | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 15 | +6 | 15 |
| 4 | Perth SC | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 31 | 8 | +23 | 13 |
| 5 | Fremantle City | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 15 | +2 | 13 |
| 6 | Balcatta Etna FC | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 9 | +8 | 10 |
| 7 | Subiaco AFC | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 21 | 17 | +4 | 6 |
| 8 | Curtin University | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 68 | -66 | 0 |
Round 9 Fixtures
Friday 26th May
CURTIN UNIVERSITY vs BALCATTA ETNA FC – Edinburgh Oval 6:30 pm
Saturday 27th May
HYUNDAI NTC vs PERTH REDSTAR – Retravision Stadium, Albany 2:00 pm
MUM FC vs FREMANTLE CITY FC – BestTeam Stadium 5:00 pm
Sunday 28th May
SUBIACO AFC vs PERTH SC – Rosalie Park 3:00 pm
GOLDEN BOOT STANDINGS
8 – Klaudia Houls (NTC), Jamie Duncanson (Perth SC)
7 – Ellie La Monte (Perth SC), Reina Kagami (Perth RedStar)
6 – Samantha Mathers (MUM FC), Frankie Murray (Subiaco AFC)
Click here for more NPLW WA coverage.
